Key findings

• Women have higher rates of suicidal behaviour, i.e. ideation, planning and suicide attempts compared to men and when suicide mortality and morbidity are combined it has a large impact on public health in Australia and internationally.
• In 2013, 637 women died by suicide, a rate of 5.5 per 100,000 accounting for 21,608 years of potential life lost.
• Suicide is a disproportionate cause of death among younger women. The proportion of 15-19 and 20- 24 year old female suicides (25%) compared to older women (less than 5%). The majority of these 2013 adolescent suicides were by hanging.
• Hanging is the most commonly used method of suicide for women (as it is for men) with poisoning by drugs being second most common. The number of women using poisoning by drugs has remained relatively stable across the past 10 years, while hanging has increased by 10% for both men and women.
• Whereas young men’s suicides have reduced in number and rate since the 1997 global peak, young women’s have not.
• Women are more highly represented in non-fatal suicidal behaviours but are far less visible in suicide prevention programs and research.
• The number of women aged 15 - 24 years who injured themselves so severely that they require hospital treatment has increased by more than 50 per cent since 2000.
• Self-injury is not well understood across the community, even amongst health professionals, which can lead to stigmatisation and social exclusion. Considering the strong association between self-injury and suicidality for women, it is imperative that the issue of self-injury in women is addressed, especially for younger women.